Vacuum can closing machine



R. E. J. NORDQUIST 2,292,400

VACUUM CAN CLOSING MACHINE Aug. 11, 1942..

Z'Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 9, 1939 V TOR I ATTdR NEY;

1942- R. E. J. NORDQUIST 2,292,400

VACUUM CAN CLOSING MACHINE Filed May 9, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 umlumwm INVENTOR 5Y I M ATTORN EYS Patented Aug. 11, 1942 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE VACUUM CAN CLOSING MACHINE Ronald E. J. Nordquist, Maplewood, N. J assignor to American Can Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application May 9, 1939, Serial No. 272,704

6 Claims.

The present invention'relates to vacuum can closing machines and the like having rotatable valves and has particular reference to placing containers or cans into the valve pockets in a proper position so that they will not protrud beyond the periphery of the valve.

In vacuum can closing machines having rotary valves for sealing off a vacuum chamber, the valves are usually disposed in cylindrical seats which surround the valve but which are provided with inlet and outlet ports for the cans. Cans fed into the valves through the entrance port are received in spaced pockets. It has been found that in the usual placing of cans into these pockets, the flange and seam parts of the can and cover which protrude a slight distance beyond other parts of the can, often rub against the inside'surface of the valve seat. When'this has been repeated during constant operation of the machine, the seat soon becomes scored or worn. In time this Wearing action produces a groove which opens up communication between the interior of the vacuum chamber and the outside atmosphere and air leaks occur, seriously interfering with the vacuum sought to be maintained in the chamber.

The instant invention contemplates overcoming this difficulty by so placing the entering cans and covers into such position Within their valve pockets that they will be entirely clear of the valve seat.

An object therefore of the invention is the provision in a vacuum can closing machine having rotary intake valves disposed in valve seats, of can and cover inserting devices which position entering cans and covers in the pockets of the valve so that they will clear the valve seats as the valves rotate, thereby preventing scoring of the seats and preventing resultant loss of vacuum from the vacuum chamber.

Numerous other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent as it is better understood from the following description, which, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferred embodiment thereof.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of the can feeding section of a vacuum closing machine embodying the instant invention, parts of the machine being shown in section;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged top plan detail of can placing devices showing a can in position relative to the devices, parts being broken away and shown in section; and

Fig. 3 is a detail vertical sectional view of a portion of the devices shown in Fig. 1, a can and its cover also being illustrated in position relative to the devices.

As a preferred embodiment of the invention the drawings illustrate the principal can feed-in parts of a vacuum can closing machine of the character disclosed in my United States Patent 2,039,338, issued May 5, 1936, on Vacuum closing machine.

In such a machine filled cans A and can covers B are brought together in vertical-alignment and are passed into a-vacuum chamber for sealing by way of spaced pockets C of a rotating valve D. The valve is preferably disposed in a cylindrical valve seat E which connects with a housing enclosing the vacuum chamber. In the chamber the cover B is preferably united with the can A by an interfolding of flanges F, G formed respectively on the cover and on the can.

The cans A enter the machine in continuous single line procession by way of a runway ll (Fig. 1) and are received on a horizontal rotating feed-in disc l2 carried on a vertical drive shaft 13.- Cam operated can feed and accelerating fingers l5 engage behind each can as it is received on the disc and properly space and accelerate it.

The fingers I5 propel the cans toward the valve D along a curved path of-travel set offby parallel inner and outer can guides 11 disposed over the feed-in disc [2. I These guides extend adjacent the valve D in a tangential line therewith and hence as a pocket C of the valve passes adjacent the guides, the can is swept into the pocket and is carried along with the valve.

Each cover B is preferably positioned into its valve pocket C prior to the entrance of the can.

The covers are supported within the pockets on ledges 2| which are on an upper level and above thetops of the cans so that when the cans are received in the pockets the covers will be in superimposed position relative to the cans.

The covers B are preferably fed individually from a supply stack retained in a magazine 22 formed as a part of a cover feeding device 23 of the character disclosed in the hereinbefore mentioned patent. This device is located adjacent the valve D. A curved guide plate 24 eases the cover into place within a passing valve pocket as the valve rotates in its seat.

As soonas both can and cover are in their valve pocket C and before the pocket is cut off from the outside atmosphere by movement of the pocket past the entrance port in the valve seat, the can and its cover are both pushed inwardly. This fully seats them within the pocket and their outer edges are then entirely within the outer periphery of the valve. In such inward position they clear the valve seat when carried around with the valve, as hereinbefore explained. This seating of the can and its'cover is effected by a cam actuated finger 3| having a vertically elongated and stepped face plate 32 which is formed to engage against the body of the can A and simultaneously to engage against the edge of the cover B.

There are preferably two of the fingers 3|, which are diametrically opposed one to the other and mounted on the lower ends of vertical pivot pins 34 carried in lugs 35 of a rotatable block 33. The block is mounted on a drive shaft 31 the upper end of which is journaled in a bearing 38 formed in a bracket 39 bolted to the main frame of the machine. The drive shaft is rotated in any suitable manner in time with the rotating valve and with the other moving parts of the machine.

Rotation of the shaft 31 first brings one finger into engagement with a can and cover in a forward pocket following which the other finger comes into action against the can and cover in the next succeeding pocket. The effect of this is that the fingers operate alternately but in continuously timed order. 7 7

Just as a finger 3| comes into engagement with a can and cover, it is rocked outwardly on its pivot pin 34 and this action pushes the can and cover home into its pocket, as hereinbefore explained. This actuation is effected by a cam arm 4| which is mounted on the upper end of each pivot pin. The free end of each arm 4| carries a cam roller 42 which operates in a cam groove 43 of a stationary cam 44 bolted to the bracket 39, the rotation of the block 36 causing this proper travel along the cam track.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. In a vacuum can closing machine, the combination of a rotary valve having peripheral pockets for the reception of cans and can covers, means for rotating said valve, means for feeding cans and can covers into the pockets of said valve, a pivoted finger element adjacentsaid valve and bodily movable in a continuous predetermined path of travel, said finger following the movement of said valve along a portion of said predetermined path and simultaneously pushing home into the valve pockets the cans and covers fed thereinto by said feeding means so that parts of the can and covers will be prevented from extending beyond the periphery of the valve, and means for actuating said finger element in synchronism with said valve rotating means.

2. In a vacuum can closing machine, the combination of a rotary valve having peripheral pockets for the reception of cans and can covers,

means for rotating said valve, a seat for said valve having a port through which the cans and covers are passed into the valve, means for feeding cans and can covers into the pockets of said valve, a pivoted finger element adjacent said valve and bodily movable in a continuous predetermined path of travel, said finger following the movement of said valve along a portion of said predetermined path and simultaneously pushing home into the valve pockets the cans and covers fed thereinto by said feeding means so that parts of the cans and covers will be prevented from striking on the valve seat and wearing grooves therein, and means for actuating said finger element in synchronism with said valve rotating means.

3. In a vacuum can closing machine, the combination of a rotary valve having peripheral pockets for the reception of cans and can covers, means for rotating said valve, means for feeding cans and can covers into the pockets of said valve, a rotatable block mounted adjacent said valve, a pair of oppositely disposed fingers pivotally mounted upon said block and bodily movable around the axis of said block, and means for moving said fingers along a portion of the path of said valve pockets in time with the travel of and towards and away from the valve pockets for pushing a fed can and its cover fully within the confines of a said pocket so that parts of the can and cover will be prevented from extendingbeyond the periphery of the valve.

4. In a vacuum can closing machine, the combination of a rotary valve having peripheral pockets for the reception of cans and can covers, means for rotating said valve, means for feeding cans and can covers into the pockets of said valve, a rotatable block mounted adjacent said valve, a pair of oppositely disposed fingers pivotally mounted upon said block and bodily movable around the axis of said block means for moving said fingers in a continuous predetermined path of travel, each of said fingers, along a portion of said predetermined path, following along and in time with a portion of the travel of asaid valve pocket, and means for shifting said fingers on their pivotal axes relative to the valve also in time with the travel of its pocket for successively pushing cans and their covers after the same have been pocketed by said feeding means, fully within their respective pockets so that parts of the cans and covers will be prevented from extending beyond the peripheryof the valve.

5. In a vacuum can closing machine, the combination of a rotary valve having peripheral pockets for the reception of cans and cancovers, meansfor rotating said valve, means for feeding cans and can covers into the pockets of said valve, a pair of opposed movable fingers disposed adjacent said valve, means for bodily moving said fingers ina continuous non-circularpath of travel and in time with thetravel of the valve so that they will alternate in coming abreast of successive pocketsfof the valve, and cam actuated devices connected to said fingers for shifting the same toward and away from the valve pockets for pushing pocketed cans nad covers fully within their pockets so that they will not protrude bepond the periphery of the valve.

6. In a vacuum can closing machine, the combination of a rotary valve having peripheral pockets for the reception of-cans and can covers, means for feeding cans and covers into the pockets of said valve, a finger element adjacent said valve, contact elements formed on said finger and adapted to engage simultaneously asaid can and its cover, said finger being bodily movable in a continuous predetermined path of travel and following the movement of said valv e along a portion of said predetermined path while said contact elements engage and push home into superimposed and axial alignment within the valve pockets the cans and covers fed thereinto by said feeding means so that all parts of the aligned cans and covers will be within the pe-- riphery of the valve, and means for actuating said finger element in synchronism with said valve rotating means.

. RONALD E. J. NORDQUIST. 

